Co-op Weekly – Co-ops have a long history of building resilient communities. They should keep driving sustainability efforts.

Co-op Weekly – Co-ops have a long history of building resilient communities. They should keep driving sustainability efforts.

“Ethical Markets supports cooperative enterprises and few people realize that these companies employ more people in the world that all profit-making commercial corporations combined according to the United Nations.

~Hazel Henderson, Editor“

This year’s International Day of Cooperatives, observed on Saturday, July 7, is focused on Sustainable Societies through Cooperation. Celebrated annually by the United Nations (UN), the day is an opportunity to promote the role of co-ops in building global peace and security, as well as a reminder to cooperatives and credit unions to consider how we can do more to contribute to sustainability.

Origin tours like this one in Guatemala put co-op coffee producers in direct contact with buyers and roasters from the U.S.

Telling coffee’s bean-to-cup story through cooperativesPeople in the United States love their coffee and, increasingly, love specialty coffee. The U.S. coffee industry was valued at over $225 billion in 2015, with specialty coffee consumption increasing from nine percent to 41 percent between 1999 and 2017. In fact, 59 percent of all coffee consumed in 2017 was specialty coffee.

U.S. Senate passes Global Food Security Reauthorization ActThe U.S. Senate last week passed the Global Food Security Reauthorization Act of 2017 (S.2269) under unanimous consent. The passage of this vital legislation comes after months of work by the InterAction community—of which NCBA CLUSA is a member—and a broader coalition of U.S. farmers, universities and businesses.

CoBank and National Cooperative Bank donate $200,000 to Food Co-op Initiative CoBank, a cooperative bank serving agribusinesses, rural infrastructure providers and Farm Credit associations nationwide, and the National Cooperative Bank (NCB), a leading provider of financial services to the nation’s cooperatives, their members and socially responsible organizations, yesterday made a contribution of $200,000 to the Food Co-op Initiative.